Blog – Page 9 – STEPHEN G. TANG

JoJo + Na: Ebell Long Beach Wedding Portraits

Once in a while, couples ask me for recommendations on things like locations. In this instance, I threw out the Ebell of Long Beach for wedding portraits as a suggestion and they said agreed to it! The Ebell of Long Beach houses a beautiful interior with iconic tile work in the main hall. Said main hall lets in just the right amount of natural light through the ceiling and the control and predictability is a photographer’s dream to work with.

Nothing quite like having free rein due to tight schedules and people blocking in the way, two common wedding occurrences. Having this freedom at a private venue also allowed for outfit changes, not something we can do easily at an outdoor location.

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Studio Engagement Portrait Sessions

I’ve bounced back and forth with the idea of studio portraiture and wedding photography. It is an integral part of my photography background, as I often mention during consultation, but not something couples typically (important word here) give thought to. A part of the reason for this is the market and social media. How do you know what you want for your engagement session when you don’t know it exists? If you can’t find it, you might settle for is currently available (remember a time before oat milk?)

When you meet a bride who wants to swim against the current, knows what she wants, and follows her intuition to hire me, it is humanly rewarding. It feeds one’s soul. Let’s work together because you have a vision and we have something to prove against tired trends.

Below are a couple of final selects from a recent shoots. I looked for subtlety through body language, rather than hitting the viewer over the head with the oft seen themes when people search for engagement photos (bright colors, matching colors, props).

Yali + Larry: Quail Ranch Wedding

This wedding took place at Quail Ranch, out in Simi Valley, which is in that part of SoCal with enough elevation to give you great weather and views for outdoor events.

When I met with Yali, she expressed to me that she had taken some photography courses in college and had a fondness for black and white photos. My third camera for their wedding was my Nikon FE2 loaded with Ilford HP5. To me, the real surprise was using this film at night outdoors, which comes with all sorts of uncertainties. It loved my off-camera lighting setup and continued to produce pleasing micro contrast.

One thing I noticed about Quail Ranch was the way the sunlight fell toward the end of the day. The property told me it may have just been a coincidence that the buildings were laid out in a way to maximize on sunset. Whether you’re dealt good design or not, photojournalism’s duty is to take what you’re given, with lighting and otherwise, and making the best of it!